Feeding apparatus for ironing machines



Feb. 4, 1969 A. H. PETTERSON FEEDING APPARATUS FOR IRONING MACHINESSheet Filed June 2, 1966 Feb. 4, 1969 A. H. PETTERSON 3,425,144 IFEEDING APPARATUS FOR IR QNING MACHINES Filed June 2, 1966 Sheet of 5Sheet 3 Feb. 4, 1969 A. H. PETTERSON FEEDING APPARATUS FOR IRONINGMACHINES Filed June 2, 1966' l n u n n I n 1 I I I u I I m I 1 u m m u HH A. H. PETTERSON FEEDING APPARATUS FOR IRONING MACHINES Feb, 4 9

She t Filed June 2. 1966 Feb. 4, 1969 A. H. PETTERSON FEEDING APiARATUSFOR momma MACHINES Sheet Filed June 2, 1966 Fig 7 United States PatentC) 3,425,144 FEEDING APPARATUS FOR IRONING MACHINES Adolf HelmerPetterson, Skarsgatan 70, Goteborg, Sweden Filed June 2, 1966, Ser. No.554,836 Claims priority, application Sweden, June 3, 1965,

7,265/65 US. Cl. 38-143 Int. Cl. D06f 67/04, 61/08 Claims ABSTRACT OFTHE DISCLOSURE The present invention relates to a feeding apparatus forironing machines or mangles which are provided with a spreading devicefor spreading out the laundry, such as sheets, table cloths and thelike, for introduction into the mangle.

In machines of the kind mentioned certain difiiculties have been met intransfer of the leading edge, for example, of a sheet, from thespreading device to the conveyor belts at the feed table of the mangle.It is of importance that the leading edge be placed on the feed tablewithout creases and in a direction perpendicular to the direction ofadvance. Only in this case it is possible to carry out the ironing andfurther advancing of the sheet in a proper way.

The invention has for its object to provide means for transferring theleading edge of the laundry to be ironed from the spreading device tothe feed table in fully open condition and free of any distort-ions orwrinkles.

A further object of the invention resides in providing apparatus of theabove-mentioned character which is durable in construction, reliable andefliicient in operation.

In accordance with the invention there is provided a feeding apparatusof the above character which comprises a beam for receiving andretaining the foremost edge of sheet material in a spread out position,a rotatable shaft arranged above the feed device and extendingperpendicularly to the direction of advance of the sheet material insaid feed device, the beam being supported by the shaft for rotationtherewith through one revolution from a starting position in which thebeam receives the sheet material, the beam passing through a positionduring said revolution in which the material is released to the feeddevice and at least one rotatable roller arranged parallel to said beamand coupled to said shaft by suitable means for rotation therewith alonga path in which the roller rolls over the sheet material to keep it incontact with the conveyor of the feed device after the sheet materialhas been released from the beam.

An embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings by way of example without limiting the invention.

in the drawings:

FIG. 1 illustrats in cross section the feeding apparatus combined with afeel means;

FIG. 2 shows a part of the same arrangement in a perspective view in itsinitial position;

FIG. 3 shows the parts of the apparatus at the beginning of the feedingoperation in the same manner as FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 shows in a similar way the parts after the completion of thefeeding;

ice

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the spreading-out pegs;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a cam disc arrangement; and

FIG. 7 is a front view of another cam disc.

In FIG. 1 a machine-stand 1 supports a feed device 2 constructed inconventional manner with a larger driven roll 3 and a smaller :runnerroll 4, around which endless conveyor belts 5 run. The essential noveltyof the invention consists in the arrangement of a rotor 6 mounted forfree-running on a shaft 7. The shaft 7 is hollow and secured to aspreading beam 8 for an article such as a sheet. The beam 8 retains theleading edge of a sheet in spread out and stretched condition along thebeam by a suction effect, as will be explained more fully subsequently.

The rotor 6 comprises a stay bar 9 of crescent-like cross sectionsecured to end discs 10, one at each end of the feed device 2.Additionally, the rotor is provided with three free-running rollers 11a,11b and 11c, the shafts of which bear on one end of respective rockerarms 12. These arms are pivotable about pivots 13 inserted in the enddiscs 10, while the other ends of the rocker arms support guide pulleys14, running in guide tracks 15 in stationary cam discs 16 securedadjacent each end disc (see FIG. 7). The cam discs are of such astructure that, during a short period of movement taking upapproximately an angle of 45, the rollers 11 are displaced outwardly ofthe rotor to an outer position as shown in FIG. 1 for the roller 11abearing on the conveyor belts 5. Due to this arrangement, each roller ismade to bear on the conveyor belts or the articles lying thereon at anextended distance from the center of the rotor 6. The roller will thusbe rolled off with a greater spread than the conveyor belts, since theroller shaft for a short period after the rollers contact with theconveyor belts is brought in towards the center of the rotor to theposition shown for the upper right hand roller 11b. The rollers 11 aremade of a tubelike jacket about which is wound a soft plastic material.The upper left hand roller 11c is traveling in an outwardly displacedposition in FIG. 1 in consequence of the contour of the guide track 15of the cam disc 16.

The rotor with its stay bar 9 and the end discs 10 is driven under thecontrol of a one-revolution coupling (not shown) in such a manner thatthe spreading beam 8 for each revolution stops in the position shown inFIG. 1, in which is readily accessible for spreading out the sheet, asfor example, by means of pneumatically transportable pegs 20, as shownin FIG. 5.

After the start of rotation of the rotor, the beam 8 is entrained in therotary movement with delay, so that it rotates with a lower speed thanthe rotor 11c, and the upper left hand roller as shown in FIG. 1 beingright above the beam 8 moves at a higher speed downwards and arrives atthe position shown in FIG. 4, where it is obliquely below the beam andin contact with the conveyor belts 5. This roller 11b is thus ready forsmoothing the foremost edge of the sheet, now released from the beam.The said edge portion of the sheet is smoothed out in this way andpressed against the conveyor belts, so that the feeding-in to the manglemay start. The relative movement of the beam 8 and the rotor 6 isbrought about by a cam disc 31 shown in FIG. 6, which is located outsidethe left end of the feed disc.

FIG. 5 shows the pegs 20, which are arranged for displacement on thebeam 8 in guides 21 and 22. The peg to the left in the FIGURE 5 is shownin its closed position, i.e. its gripping position. The peg to the rightis in an open clutching position ready for the introduction of a sheetcorner. By rocking the peg about its bearing shaft 23 clockwise from theinclining position to a position perependicular to the beam 8, the jawsof the peg are brought together to their gripping position andmaintained in this position by means of a spring 24. The pegs arecarried by a common carriage 25, which may optionally be moved to theleft or the right on the beam 8 for spreading the foremost edge of thesheet, which has been manually laid down along the beam. The sheet edgeis retained on the beam by the suction effect. A chamber 26 in the beamcommunicates, via valves with an evacuating device, thus producingsuction in small channels 27 connected to recesses in the active suctionsurface of the b am. The carriage 25 is coupled to a thin plate 28 (seeFIG. 1) inserted in a longitudinal slot in the wall of the shaft 7 andsecured to a piston 29 in the shaft serving as a pneumatic cylinder, thelatter cylinder being coupled, via valves at its opposite ends, to thesame evacuating source as the chamber 26.

FIG. 2 illustrates the conveyor belts 5 on the feed table and the rotor6 with the spreading beam 8 in its position ready for start of anoperation. Below the beam, the stay bar 9 is fixed into the end discs 10and above the beam is the roller 11c.

As shown in FIG. 3, the rotor 6 has started rotating so that the roller110 is just in front of the beam, approximately in the position assumedby roller 11a in FIG. 1. At this moment the suction effect in thechamber 26 is stopped, the leading sheet edge then sliding off thesuction face of the beam, which will then be inclined towards theconveyor belts S as shown in FIG. 1 in dash-lines. The roller 110 thenpasses at an increased speed over the edge of the sheet to smooth it outover the conveyor belts. Shortly thereafter, the roller 11b is broughtinto contact with the conveyor belts, as shown in FIG. 4 in positionbelow the stay bar 9. The rotor 6 has thus completed almost half arevolution. After a further half revolution, the beam 8 returns to itsinitial position as shown in FIG. 1, and the roller 11a comes intoengagement with the conveyor belts and freely on the same, while therotor is at a standstill. The articles for ironing will in this way bekept in contact with the conveyor belts during the further feedingmovement.

By means of button controls the pegs can be moved and stopped, thechamber 26 in the beam can be switched on to achieve the suction effectand the one-revolution coupling can be started. The driving force forthe coupling is obtained from the driving device of the mangle proper.

FIG. 6 illustrates the cam disc 31 employed in order to achieve therelative movement between the beam 8 and the rollers 11. The left end ofthe feed table is designated by 30. Beyond the same is the cam disc 31having a guide track 32. In this track runs a roller 33 at one endcarried by a rocker arm 36 pivoting about a pivot 34 in an arm 35, theother end 37 of the rocker arm being pivoted to a link rod 38. This isin turn pivoted to the shaft 7, while the arm 35 is secured to a bearingsleeve for the rotor 6. As long as the roller 33 follows the circularportion of the guide track, the beam 8 and the rotor 6 rotate at thesame speed, but when the roller enters the curved-in portion 40 of theguide track, the beam is tilted in a direction opposed to the rotarymovement, so that the roller 11c catches up with the beam in theposition shown in FIG. 3.

FIG. 7 illustrates the rigidly secured cam disc 16 at each end disc 10of the rotor 6. The guide track 15 of the cam disc 16 follows a circularpath with the exception of a curved-in part 41, extending through anangle of about 120. When the guide pulley on each rocker arm 12 passesthe said curved-in part 41 of the guide track the shaft of the roller 11is moved outwardly from the center of the rotor 6 while the rocker armpivots about its pivot 13. This movement is started in the position inwhich the roller (FIG. 1) is situated and terminates when the roller isrolling over the conveyor belts.

Within the scope of the invention the rotor 6 may be provided with onlyone single roller 11 arranged as shown by roller 11c, and other meansmay be used for pressing the articles against the conveyor belts duringthe feeding in movement. The spreading out pegs 20 may be driven in anyoptional manner known per se and be made in accordance with any otherconstruction than the one indicated hereinbefore.

What is claimed is:

1. A feeding apparatus for ironing machines having a feed device with aconveyor for advancing spread-out sheet material, said apparatuscomprising a beam for receiving and retaining the foremost edge of sheetmaterial, a spreading device mounted on said beam for spreading out theforemost edge of the sheet materal on said beam, a rotatable shaftarranged above the feed device and extending perpendicularly to thedirection of advance of the sheet material in said feed device, saidbeam being supported by said shaft for rotation therewith through onerevolution from a starting position in which the beam receives the sheetmaterial, the beam passing through a position during said revolution inwhich the material is released to the feed device, at least onerotatable roller arranged parallel to said beam and means coupling saidroller with said shaft for rotation therewith along a path in which theroller rolls over the sheet material to keep it in contact with theconveyor of the feed device after the sheet material has been releasedfrom the beam.

2. A feeding apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said shaft ishollow and constitutes a pneumatic cylinder, a piston being mounted insaid cylinder and coupled to said spreading device to operate the same.

3. A feeding apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein a plurality of saidrollers are provided, each contacting the sheet material on the conveyorin succession, said means which couples the rollers to the shaftcomprising a stationary cam disc and means coupled to each roller andengaged by said disc to cause respective movement of each roller, whileit is rotating with said shaft, in a radially outwardly directionrelative to said shaft before contact with the sheet material on theconveyor and thereafter radially inwardly.

4. A feeding apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said means couplingthe roller with said shaft comprises a driven rotor supporting saidroller, and means coupling the rotor and shaft such that the latter isdriven with the rotor at varying relative speeds.

5. A feeding apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said beam androller are driven at a rotational speed to cause the roller to roll onthe feed table with a speed which is higher than the speed of advance ofthe conveyor.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,976,625 3/1961 Bazelmans 38-23,103,755 9/1963 Hajos 38l43 3,136,081 6/1964 Fredholm 38-143 3,315,3854/1967 Taylor 38-143 JORDAN FRANKLIN, Primary Examiner. G. V. LARKIN,Assistant Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. 38-49

